<p>Exactly the point.
Cost of living might be zero if you are completely supported by somebody else (parents, spouse) and your loan might be in a range $0 - $10k. I can see that you repay rrather quickly.
Cost of living might be $35k / year which is about what you will have left after paying the taxes. How you repay anything at all?
Cost of living mingt be about $60k / year. You will have to borrow even more.
Keep in mind that the place of residency is NOT always in the cheapest location. Keep in mind that you do not want to worry all the time about being criminilized while having very strange and somewhat unpredictable hours of coming and living your home. Yes, you will need to live in a better place, so you know that coming in the middle of the night is not an issue. Also, keep in mind that you will not be able to afford commuting for 1.5 hrs one way as many regular working people do. These all add up to the cost of living.
Stating that single mom with income of $50k was able to re-pay tenths of thousands of loans every year for many years is misleading. I do not see how it is possible.</p>